LAHORE, April 16: The Bar associations and councils iterated on Wednesday that they would strive for the supremacy of parliament and abrogation of the Legal Framework Order.

The office-bearers of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Lahore High Court Bar Association, Pakistan Bar Council and the Punjab Bar Council reaffirmed at a press conference that lawyers would not accept the LFO as a constitutional package, and convene a meeting of its joint action committee and all the parliamentary leaders of the political parties on April 18 to discuss the situation.

SCBA President Hamid Khan said the lawyers’ stance on the LFO was not meant to gain personal benefits. “We shall not support the LFO provisions, which prejudice the fundamental rights of the citizens and minorities,” he asserted.

Mr Khan alleged that Gen Pervez Musharraf got himself elected in an unconstitutional manner, and had endangered the country’s sovereignty. He demanded him (Musharraf) to step down as president as well as the chief of the army staff.

LHCBA President Hafiz Abdul Rahman Ansari said Gen Musharraf did not want the LFO to be presented in parliament for its validation. The LFO should be left at the discretion of parliament, which he said was the only legitimate forum to decide its fate.

Mr Ansari suggested that the best way out was the departure of the sitting president and abrogation of the LFO. “All those countries run by the presidents in uniform have faced the same situation as confronted by Iraq because dictatorship poses a serious threat to the country’s sovereignty,” the LHCBA said.

Later, the other office-bearers rejected the election of Gen Musharraf as president through referendum and three-year extension in the services of the superior courts’ judges. They asked the judges not to continue to hold their offices without taking fresh oath under the ‘restored’ constitution.